We are closing in on the end of production, (60 of 85 book have been made!) so I figure it's about time to share some of the process.
But first, why a handbound zine? and why stab-binding in particular?
Well, I'll admit I thought it would be more cost effective to bind by hand. It was not, for the record, but with all the uncertainty around tariffs and things, it felt simpler to try to do the brunt of the work myself. Looking back, I think I could have done things in a more cost effective way, but it would not have given the same result, and since I had a crystal clear vision of what I wanted to create, I was (and still am) prepared to take a financial hit to make this zine a reality.
As for choosing stab-binding, it was just meant to be, lol! But seriously, it turned out to be pretty much the perfect choice. At first I was gonna try to do a simple pamphlet type binding (like what a regular magazine is, with the staples along the spine), But the thing with those is you are severely limited as to page count, and this zine was going to have a big page count. So I thought about my other options, and had pretty much resigned myself to figuring out how to make a whole bunch of stab-bound books. But then it was pointed out to me that the books in game from Liyue look like this:
That's a stab-binding! Well. See what I mean by meant to be?
Stab-binding, general called Japanese Stab-Binding, is the traditional style of book binding in several Asian countries (including Japan, Korea, and China) until the adoption of modern Western methods of book production. There are traditional styles for the spine stitching (our zine uses a variation on the Hemp Leaf Pattern), but there are also tons of design options and space for creativity, too. And you can literally make the book as thick as you like, you'll just need more thread to do the stitching.
Our zine has simplified some of the more traditional elements of a stab-bound book, and altered others, but we'll get into those changes, and why I opted for them another time :)
